Jessica Caron had been active during high school and early college years, running on the track team, playing soccer, and cheerleading. Then, during a spring vacation trip when she was 20 years old, Caron experienced a miserable episode of nausea, stomach ache, and vomiting. At 21, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
Now in her early 30s, mother of two young sons and a patient lawyer who writes the Chronically Jess blog, Caron had to rethink her approach to exercise because of her diagnosis.
“I realized that exercise and activity were really important to being comfortable, and getting my body back to a healthy state was especially helpful when I was coming out of an outbreak,” she says. “I had always enjoyed it, but now I realized it was a necessity.”
If you’ve been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, you may be wondering what types of exercise are right for you, whether to avoid exercise, and how to manage an exercise routine during an outbreak.
Why You Should Exercise When You Have Crohn’s Disease
Exercise is good for everyone – including people with Crohn’s disease. According to Dr. Sushila Dalal, a gastroenterologist at the University of Chicago who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has reason to believe that working up a good sweat can help keep your condition under control.
“First, we know that people with IBD have high levels of anxiety and depression, and that exercise is a healthy way to deal with it. In addition, there is even some research that suggests exercise might be helpful in maintaining remission and reducing symptom flares, ”she says. For example, a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found that walking at a moderate pace for about half an hour three times a week helped improve Crohn’s symptoms. Other studies have also found that moderate exercise is good for people with Crohn’s disease.
“Exercise helps relieve stress, and stress is known to contribute to disease outbreaks,” says Dalal. “My patients keep telling me that if they keep up with an exercise routine, they tend to feel better: they have less pain, more energy, their bowel movements are more regular, things like that. You just have a greater sense of wellbeing. “
People with Crohn’s disease are also at higher risk of bone loss and osteoporosis. Weight training is important to improve bone health and slow down bone loss.
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What Kind of Exercise Should You Do?
Caron says that at first she didn’t know how to exercise again and how to set up the correct routine after her diagnosis. You can feel the same way. “It was trial and error,” she says. “I started trying things on by size to see how they would feel.”
There really are no right or wrong exercises for someone with Crohn’s disease, says Dalal. If you’re new to the sport or haven’t exercised regularly in a while, it’s a good idea to start slowly and easily. The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America recommends low-impact activities such as:
Listen to your body
Caron says she tried most of these activities at different times while figuring out what works best for her.
“Today I challenge myself to walk every day and do yoga at least a few times a week,” she says. “I find that it helps me with tiredness and joint pain. When I’m better, I like to mix it up with some running, or when I’m doing really well I do high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but I couldn’t do that in a while because of joint pain. “
But she found one thing that absolutely didn’t work: overdoing it. “I’ve found that trying to squeeze my body too hard leads to muscle inflammation or pain that prevents me from exercising for the next few days. I realized that routine is important. “
Dalal agrees. “Start slowly. A little is a positive change, ”she says. “Take your time and get into the routine. In the beginning, don’t worry about how much you’re doing or how intense it is. Focus on developing these habits so you can slowly build up your stamina and tolerance. “
And don’t compare yourself to others, says Caron. “So you can’t run the 3 miles that your friend did on Instagram? That is not important. And I’m not going to listen to this person in my cardio class who says, “Push it, push it, harder, harder.” I will listen to my body. I will do what I have available today and focus on my long-term goal of staying healthy. “
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What about torches?
Should you exercise when you’re in the middle of a symptom torch?
“If you have a torch, it’s probably a good idea to back off a bit and give your body a chance to heal,” says Dalal. “For example, if you have a lot of diarrhea, you don’t want to be dehydrated. Fatigue is also a major problem with active inflammation, as is anemia. Keep in mind that because of these reasons, you may not be able to do that much during a flare. “
If you have any concerns about your exercise routine, talk to your doctor. “A couple of years ago I noticed that running was getting harder and harder for me. I would be more out of breath every time, ”says Caron. “I reached out to my doctor who did some tests and found that I was really anemic.”
And she says that on really bad days, getting up and picking up the mail or loading a load of laundry is considered an exercise. “Hey, at least I moved that day!” She says. “It’s a success. It is important that we listen to our body and understand that it is constantly changing over time. And no matter what you did, celebrate that you did it! If you walked to the grocery store in the middle of a torch, damn it, celebrate. Build on your own momentum. “
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SWELL:
Jessica Caron, patient; Blogger, Chronic Jess, Goffstown, NH.
Dr. med. Sushila Dalal, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine, Illinois.
American Journal of Gastroenterology, “The Effects of Exercise on Patients with Crohn’s Disease.”
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology: “Exercise and Crohn’s Disease: Speculation of Potential Benefits.”
United European Gastroenterology Journal: “Moderate cardio and muscle training is beneficial and safe for patients with resting or slightly active Crohn’s disease.”
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation: “Bone Loss”, “Exercise”.
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